The International Collegiate Hockey Association (ICHA) was an intercollegiate

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

conference from 1965-80 competing in the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its st ...

(NAIA). The conference had member schools in both

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

History

The league was founded in 1965 with member schools Bemidji State University,

Lake Superior State University Lake Superior State University (colloquially Lake State, Lake Superior State, Soo Tech, and LSSU) is a public college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. It is enrolls approximately 2,000 students. Due to its proximity to the Canadian border, and th ...

Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, gradua ...

, St. Cloud State University, and University of Wisconsin-Superior. St. Cloud State dropped out of the league after four seasons in April 1969 due to lack of an indoor facility. In 1972-73, Lake Superior State played in both the ICHA and

Central Collegiate Hockey Association The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) is a college athletic conference that participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. The current CCHA began play in the 2021–22 season; a previous incarnation, which the curr ...

(CCHA). In 1973, LSSU left the ICHA for the CCHA. The following season, the Lakers left the NAIA to become an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I ice hockey program. LSSU was replaced by the College of St. Scholastica starting in the 1972-73 season. Lakehead left the ICHA after the 1976-77 season.

Decline and Disbandment

Following the departure of Lakehead, the ICHA made an attempt to add former member St. Cloud State plus Mankato State, Wisconsin-River Falls, and Wisconsin-Stout. Another proposal of the ICHA was to join the

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) is a college athletic conference which competes in NCAA Division III. All 13 of the member schools are located in Minnesota and are private institutions, with only two being non-sectarian. ...

for hockey only, which would have brought that league's hockey membership to 10 teams. Neither plan came to fruition. St. Scholastica left the conference following the 1977-78 season leaving the ICHA with just two members. On June 1, 1980, Bemidji State and Wisconsin-Superior joined Mankato State University, St. Cloud State University, Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and Wisconsin-River Falls to form the

Northern Collegiate Hockey Association The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in the midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division III as a hockey-on ...

Conference Champions

*1967 Bemidji State/Lakehead University *1968 Lake Superior State *1969 Bemidji State *1970 Bemidji State/Lake Superior State *1971 Bemidji State *1972 Lake Superior State *1973 Bemidji State/Lake Superior State *1974 Bemidji State *1975 St. Scholastica *1976 Bemidji State *1977 Bemidji State *1978 Bemidji State *1979 Bemidji State *1980 Bemidji State

National Championships

The ICHA dominated the NAIA ice hockey tournament winning 12 of 13 national titles from 1968-80. All 13 championship games featured at least one ICHA team. Seven championships were an inter-conference match-up.

NAIA National Champions

References

{{Reflist College ice hockey conferences in the United States Defunct NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences